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The map may be taking place in New York or some crowded city in America. This is further reinforced by the presence of an American magazine in one of the bathrooms in the map. According to the map description, the official Terrorist faction for this map may have been the Elite Crew or the Guerrilla Warfare.

This map is generally unbalanced since the terrorists spawn very close to the VIP escape zone. Furthermore, they will have the upper hand as they can camp near the zone with snipers and arrange a small team to hunt the VIP through the elevator or the penthouse windows with the presence of a steel rope (that serves as a ladder). This enables the terrorists to easily surround the CT team and assassinate the VIP. Should that terrorist team fail however, the CTs can now overwhelm the remaining terrorists (if they have survived) and storm with an assault. Similar to Forest, snipers from both teams can easily pin players down due to that many areas of the map feature common camping areas and long sections in the map. Due to this, the map was eventually removed.

The map was designed by Matt "Pantera" Szymanski with a total build time of about 2 and a half weeks[1]. Influence may have been taken from the map Oilrig as both maps feature the VIP escape zone as a helicopter pad near the Terrorist spawn zone and the Counter-Terrorists must move upwards with the VIP to reach the escape zone. It was initially released as a custom map called as_highrise_beta1. Szymanski did a few minor changes to the map, mostly to the roof section and eventually got the updated version of the map released as an official map together with beta 7.0.

After its release in the official map rotation, Szymanski made some major changes to the general layout of the roof section of the map to make sniping more difficult and also added another alternate path for the Counter-Terrorists to take in order to reach the top. He also added a helicopter model (the same one as used in Tundra) to the helipad and made the helipad reachable simply by jumping on top of it. These changes were made to be included in the release of version 1.1 of the game. However, the damage had already been done and the map was cut from version 1.1. As such the fixes never reached the core game, but the fixed version of the map was eventually released separately as as_highrise2.[2]

Stick together with your team and do not be slow in your movements as the terrorists may quickly advance to your location. Try to intimidate any aggressive terrorist with overwhelming fire power and be alert for sniping spots. Make the enemy retreat by throwing grenades and shoot at designated areas. If possible, have at least two CTs wield the tactical shield, one CT with a sniper weapon, and another one with a rifle suitable for close range combat to protect the VIP. Since the VIP would not survive long without assistance, do not let him become the target in the front lines and make him stay in the middle of the CT group. Finally, with a bit of luck, sufficient skill, and brave comrades, the VIP may be able to escape with your assistance!

Do not allow the cowardly VIP to escape and ensure his assassination. Position some of your fellow terrorists in the roofs of the terrorist spawn zone(s) with sniper weaponry. If you like, arrange a handful of your team members to hunt down the VIP and allow them to show no mercy. Just be warned, however, that the CTs are also unlikely to relent your true intentions and they may do a lot more than just be aggressive....They can effectively become defensive and cooperate together to eliminate any threat against the VIP. If this terrorist team fails, then simply camp nearby the escape zone and wait for the CTs to arrive. Expect a great gun fight especially when the time is less than one minute or when the CTs decide to "storm the front". To survive and become victorious, throw a flashbang and snipe the VIP (it will take at least 2 AWP shots or more to kill him if he has full health and depending on where you aim). Be sure to do the act fast otherwise the CTs may regroup and protect the VIP with the (annoying) tactical shield or additional suppressive fire.